


Stop for the Night

by Keinine



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Demonio/Apostasia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keinine/pseuds/Keinine
Summary: "You’re both absolutely the same. If you weren’t, would you have really come to our rescue? Would you have stayed with us after the fight?”Ain knows he wouldn’t have. He’s allowed countless other adventurers die, whether it be because he couldn’t help, or didn’t want to. He hardly had any sort of interaction with anyone- hiding away in that chapel was a decision he made in order to stay away from anyone possible. It was a death wish to enter it… and yet, only a month after he’d made it his home, Ciel and Lu stumbled into the danger.





	Stop for the Night

**Author's Note:**

> A small continuation of [Pathway](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11826462), set between the events of the first story, and the sequel, which will be worked on... eventually.

The fire burned on well into the night, Lu unable to rest, despite normally being the first to sleep. Wounds still fresh, body aching, exhausted; all of this, yet there was a certain anxious restlessness that settled on her mind. Though, it didn’t belong to her- rather, the source was Ciel, who was overwhelmed with emotion to the point of accidentally pushing it on to the smaller demon. Her gaze wanders to beyond the fire, two figures lying atop a blanket on the other side.

She could just barely make out the slight shift of Ciel’s arm, his fingers gently brushing through Ain’s hair, straying to brush gentle touches over his arm, cheek, neck- anywhere he could touch without disturbing Ain as he slept. Snug against Ciel’s chest, the demon’s overcoat tucked over his body, he was asleep for the first time in… a long time. Every once in a while he would stir, the smallest noise able to wake him; a practiced paranoia, a result from being by himself. Surviving.

Every time Ain would shift, eyes opening to reveal a dazed green, Ciel would hush him, gently encouraging him back to sleep. This repeated for a while, Ciel finally unable to fight off exhaustion hours after they initially set to sleep. Despite the restlessness subsiding, Lu still found it hard to sleep. She laid there for what felt like hours, when only minutes passed, an agonizingly slow night.

Silence was interrupted by the sound of fabric shifting, Lu’s gaze once again returning to the other side of the fire, where she noticed Ain’s shoulders moving. He couldn’t really move about too much, Ciel’s arms firmly around him, but they didn’t restrict him completely. Turning to look back over his shoulder, a green orb is lit by the firelight, peering over at Lu. Lu stares back in kind.

She can just make out the slightest crease of his forehead under his bangs, lips tight in an indifferent scowl- he wants to talk to her, but he’s afraid of waking Ciel if he speaks too loud. She doesn’t know how she knows he wants to talk, but it’s just a hunch she has. She sits up, putting a finger to her lips, and moves her makeshift bed around the fire, positioning herself behind Ain. “... Ciel’s a heavy sleeper. If we keep our voices down, he won’t wake up.”

The only response she gets is a soft grunt, Ain attempting to turn his body. Slowly, he manages to get on to his back, head turned to face Lu. Laying on her side, her head is propped up on her hand, eyes taking in Ain’s features for the first time since they’d all found one another.

Ain’s skin, whatever wasn’t tainted, was incredibly pale. His hair, once fluffy and thick refusing to do anything other than curl and stick up every which way, now thin and straight, as though someone stole the life from it. She reaches out a hand, her palm softly resting on his cheek as her thumb brushes against the dark half-circle under one of his eyes, briefly mistaking it for dirt.

She frowns, and Ain sighs, nuzzling against her hand.

“Are you really so touch-starved that you would press your cheek further into my palm? You’re like a sleepy kitten, Ain.”

“Might as well be one.” There is a hint of a laugh in his voice, coated over by exhaustion. “You can’t sleep?”

Lu shakes her head, curling up on her side. She removes the hand from Ain’s cheek, reaching for one of his hands. Picking it up, she begins absently playing with his fingers. “Ciel was anxious. So, while he gets to sleep ever so peacefully, I’m awake.” Not a total lie.

Ain turns his head to face Ciel, his free hand reaching up to stroke a thumb along his cheek. “I’m too tired to move, so he didn’t have to worry about me leaving.”

“He was actually more worried about you staying.”

Head turns back to face Lu, her expression one of boredom as she pressed her palm to Ain’s, comparing hand sizes. Her hands were small and rounded out, Ain’s only slightly bigger, thin.

“... What do you mean? Does he not want me around?”

Lu has to stifle a laugh, biting her bottom lip momentarily. “Geez, did you lose some intelligence while you were hidden away? He hasn’t been this happy since the night before you vanished. It’s just… things are different with him now. He’s not the same. We’re not the same.”

“But he seems the same to me… not counting his appearance, of course.”

Lu hums, smile playing on her lips. “The same could be said for you, you know?”

“That’s hardly the same-”

“It’s exactly the same!” Lu’s voice raises in defiance, silencing herself as Ciel shifts. The two wait a moment, Ain feeling the arms around him tighten before the demon falls into a peaceful slumber once more. Lu continues.

“The events which lead to… this… might be different compared to Ciel’s, you’re both absolutely the same. If you weren’t, would you have really come to our rescue? Would you have stayed with us after the fight?”

Ain knows he wouldn’t have. He’s allowed countless other adventurers die, whether it be because he couldn’t help, or didn’t want to. He hardly had any sort of interaction with anyone- hiding away in that chapel was a decision he made in order to stay away from anyone possible. It was a death wish to enter it… and yet, only a month after he’d made it his home, Ciel and Lu stumbled into the danger.

He watched them at a distance, hidden, as they cut down foe after foe. He figured they would be okay, about to leave, when they stumbled into Amethyst’s chambers. Not even Ain dared go in there.

It was a gamble that he would even be able to take down the beast; he hadn’t used his powers to their full extent once since being fully consumed by dark El. He didn’t really think he knew how to, either, until his body moved on its own.

“... You both would have died if I didn’t do anything.”

“Both of us? You were probably more concerned about Ciel than anything-”

“You’re wrong.” Ain’s voice is stern, expression shifting from a lofty exhaustion to something more serious. “You were just as important to me as Ciel. We both know you were beyond your limit and wounded far worse than him. I… I wanted to get you out of there just as much as I wanted to prevent him from taking that final blow.”

Taking a breath, Ain lays back, head tilting closer towards Ciel. “I haven’t been so scared in my life. I didn’t think I was going to make it in time. I didn’t know how I was going to fight it… you’re both idiots.”

Lu looks at him a moment, a small smile taking over her lips as she scoots closer to Ain, nestling herself against his side. It takes only a moment before Ain’s arm wraps around her, keeping her close.

“What, feeling lonely?”

“As if. Ciel normally keeps me warm, but you’ll have to do for tonight.”

The two exchange few words before Lu falls asleep, safely curled against Ain’s side, holding onto one of his hands with her own, a threadbare blanket barely covering her body. Ain, however, remains awake, staring up at the sky. Eyes mindlessly dart from one star to another, tracing out constellations, when Ciel awakens again.

“Ain? Is everything o-”

The ex-angel raises a finger to his lips, motioning with his head towards Lu. “She just got to sleep not too long ago.”

Ciel’s expression, a sleep-dazed worry, falls into a gentle calm upon seeing Lu. He lowers his head back down, moving to press a kiss to Ain’s shoulder, which Ain responds to with a kiss to Ciel’s forehead.

“You should go back to sleep. You had a long day.”

“You should rest, too. You’ve had a long few months, no?”

Well, Ain couldn’t deny that. 3 months of barely any sleep, and one would think he’d jump on the chance to get some rest. However, after training yourself to wake at the smallest noise and survive on only 2 to 3 hours of sleep, it’s hard to just will yourself to sleep.

Seeing his hesitation, Ciel takes hold of Ain’s other hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “It’s okay, Ain. You’re safe. You’ll wake up in the morning, and Lu and I will be right here. I promise. Now, rest.”

Being told he was safe was something Ain couldn’t quite believe, but he complied anyway, closing his eyes. The two demons on either side of Ain, curled around him, holding tight to his hands.

If Ain could still feel ‘safe’, he was certain this would be it.

**Author's Note:**

> Boy is this not beta read at all. Again. Sorry that seems to be a reoccurring thing with my elsword fics. I promise I'll get someone to beta read the next one I'll write. Whenever that may be.
> 
> If you want to contact me, my twitter is located over at [KElNlNE](https://twitter.com/KElNlNE)!


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